


Dreams

by Halvwyn



Series: Life of the Party Ficlets and Fics [2]
Category: Life of the Party D&D (Web Series)
Genre: Cassian is a good person, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Let my elves have their bonding moments, Nightmares, Psychological Trauma, Sariel needs all the love and support, Support Systems, even if he won't admit it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23380540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halvwyn/pseuds/Halvwyn
Summary: She thinks she should be used to them by now, the nightmares. Should be used to waking up in a cold sweat, heart pounding in her chest as her mind screams at her to run without remembering what she’s supposed to be running from in the first place.But she isn’t.
Relationships: Cassian & Sariel (Life of the Party)
Series: Life of the Party Ficlets and Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1681585
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Oops, another one happened!  
> The prompt this time was: "Don't be silly. I want to stay up with you."

She thinks she should be used to them by now, the nightmares. Should be used to waking up in a cold sweat, heart pounding in her chest as her mind screams at her to  _ run  _ without remembering what she’s supposed to be running from in the first place. 

But she isn’t.

Instead, she takes as deep a breath as she can manage, a small whimper slipping past her lips despite herself, and slowly slides off her bed. Another steadying breath, and Sariel takes the few steps it takes to cross the room from her bed to the door. Softly, she creeps into the hall. It’s safe here in the barracks, she knows, but old habits die hard and it’s easier to remain unheard and unseen than have to deal with confrontation. 

Not for the first time, Sariel finds herself incredibly grateful for having a neighboring room to Cassian. Knocking lightly at the door, she breathes a sigh of relief for the first time of the night at the familiar voice calling through the door “It is unlocked, come in.” 

Cassian doesn’t look up from where he sits at his desk, delicate jewelry pieces decorating the surface, offering a hum of acknowledgement as he waits for Sariel to decide whether she truly wants company. 

At the sound of her footsteps heading towards his bed, he sets down the piece in his hands and stands, grabbing a hair brush as he made his way to join her on the edge of the bed. 

“Dreams again?” he murmurs, voice barely above a whisper in the quiet of the room. Sariel nods slowly in confirmation before shifting to look up at him, “Do you want to talk about it? Or are you here for a distraction?”

Silence fills the room as she weighs the options, and he makes no attempt to rush the decision or fill the quiet with empty words. After a long moment, Sariel speaks, voice in the same hushed tone Cassian used earlier, “A distraction, I think”

Humming in acknowledgement, Cassian slides backwards towards the center of his bed, crossing his legs in front of him and earning a questioning look from Sariel. Offering a small smile, he brandishes the brush as if it answers her question, “I know you...do not like to be touched, but I thought this may be a comforting compromise.

Another moment passes, and Cassian adjusts, moving to lean back against the wall just before Sariel tentatively joins him, sitting just in front of him and turning to face away. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she sighs softly as the first stroke of the brush pulls gently through her hair, head tilting back.

They stay like that for a long moment, the room silent other than the soft wisping soft of the brush gliding through her hair. “You know,” Cassian murmurs, “when I was a child, my mother would do this for me. I eventually decided I was too old for it, at the ever-so-old age of thirteen,” Sariel huffs lightly in an imitation of laughter, earning an echoing one from the man sitting beside her, “I know, practically an adult….but I never forgot the feeling of it. Sitting quietly in the darkness of the evening, knowing there was someone who cared enough to sit with me throughout the night doing something is simple as brushing out my hair.”

“Thank you, Cassian.” Sariel near-whispers into the room.

“Nothing to thank me for, my friend.”

The pair once more drift off into quiet, Sariel’s eyes beginning to drift closed once more as the repetitive motion soothes her frayed nerves. She isn’t sure how long they sit like that, only brought back to her senses as the brush leaves her hair to be set next to her on the blanket and the sounds of Cassian sighing as he attempts to stretch out his back. 

As her eyes slowly open, Sariel catches sight of the moon beginning to set out the Cassian’s window, gasping as she realizes how long they’d been sitting. “Cassian, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you up all night for this. I-”

She’s quickly cut off by Cassian, face unconcerned at the amount of time that has passed, “Don’t worry about it. If I wanted you gone, you would be back in your room. I wanted to stay up with you.” 

Sariel hesitates a brief moment before nodding slowly. “Well, I suppose you’d know what you want better than I would.”

“I agree.”

The retort startles a small, if not fragile, smile out of Sariel. “Thank you again, Cassian. I...I think I’m alright now.”

Cassian simply nods in response as Sariel slides off his bed and begins to head towards the door. “Good night, Sariel….thank you, for trusting me with this again.”

Sariel cracks the door open, checking the hallway out of habit before responding, “Good night, Cassian,” slipping out of Cassian’s room and back into her own.

As she drifts back off to sleep, she dreams of a little boy, too stubborn to let his mother brush his hair, and smiles.


End file.
